ANDREW Bowie has backed Kemi Badenoch as the new leader of the Conservative Party and said he would be campaigning in support of her bid.

Bowie also said that the Conservatives “governed poorly” when in office and hoped that former Home Secretary Suella Braverman would not defect to Reform UK.

The Shadow Minister for Veterans’ Affairs told GB News: “I’ve known Kemi for years. I got huge respect for what she achieved in government and I think that she is exactly what the Conservative Party needs, if we are to renew and take the fight to the Labour Party and present a credible option for the British people as an alternative government in four or five years time.

“She set out her stall this morning in an opinion piece in a newspaper and is setting out how she plans on renewing, on engaging with the membership, on growing our base and standing up for Conservative values in this country.

“I think that’s a conversation we need to have. I fully trust Kemi as the person who can lead that conversation and take us back to where we need to be for Great Britain and that’s in government.”

He added: “People have lost track of what conservatism means in this country. We have talked a good game but governed poorly over the last few years.

“It’s up to us to investigate why that is, to speak to our members, those people that support us, or people who want to vote Conservative but for whom we have not given them an option over the last few years.

“That’s what Kemi is going to be doing, engaging with those very people over the next few weeks, setting out her stall when it comes to the first round of votes in the building behind me and then going out to the membership in the months following that, a re-examination of why the Conservative Party matters, what we stand for, a renewed belief in the nation state and what the Government should be doing rather than what it is doing right now.

“I think that’s what Britain needs. That’s what Kemi has been standing for and that’s why I’m very proud to support her.”

Asked about speculation that former leadership hopeful Suella Braverman may join Reform UK, he said: “Well, look, I think Suella’s place is within the Conservative Party.

“We are a broad church and sometimes you need to listen to difficult things in order to get to the solution and get to where you need to go.

“I very much hope Suella decides to stay within the Conservative Party, but of course Suella’s future is entirely within Suella’s hands.

“So, whilst thanking her for her contribution and hoping that she stays with us, it’s entirely up to her as to what happens next.”